Beginning on Oct. 29, campus recreation will be offering six self-defense classes “with the intention of helping students feel safer on and off-campus,” Adena Cohen ’22 explained. The classes will be taught by karate instructor David Smith.

Cohen explained that as the wellness coordinator for campus recreation she organizes events on campus to bring awareness to healthy living, so “I decided to bring a karate instructor to campus to teach a self-defense class,” Cohen said. Cohen explained that Smith will teach students to deal with situations where one might be endangered by a stranger, but will also “be teaching ways to handle the more familiar situations of feeling endangered by somebody you know. This part of the class will hopefully include defense against different types of assaults.”

Cohen explained that the “main idea is just to help students feel confident in case they were to be in a dangerous situation.” The self-defense instructor, David Smith said “people need to be able to defend themselves in this society where there are muggings, attacks, robberies with violence, and even worse situations, not only in the streets and towns but on college campuses.” He continued, and explained that it is important that students are aware of their surroundings and have the tools to defend themselves if they are in a situation where they would need self-defense skills. 

Students reacted positively to the implementation of the classes. Olivia Shea ’20 said “I think that it’s important because it helps people in a situation feel confident and protected if they know how to defend themselves.” 

Jillian Paige ’21 said “I think it’s a good opportunity, especially for women, to feel safer on campus.” 

Charlotte Page ’22 said, “self-defense is important for any person but especially people on college campuses offering the ability for people to empower themselves through self-defense is a great opportunity to feel more comfortable in one’s own body.”

The self-defense classes will be taught from Oct. 29 to December 3 in the HUB Dance Room. A total of six classes will be offered and new participants are welcome at any class.